Anatomical analysis of neuronal network for accumulation of evidence in decision making and NMDA receptor involvement

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K07720
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 51020:Cognitive and brain science-related
• Research Institution: University of Yamanashi
• Principal Investigator: Ishida Maho 山梨大学, 大学院総合研究部, 助教 (80362086)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 宇賀 貴紀 山梨大学, 大学院総合研究部, 教授 (50372933)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: ラット / 知覚意思決定

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Head-fixed Long-Evans rats were trained to perform a perceptive decision making task. In the task, rats select which pedal to release as a result of decision making according to an auditory stimulus presented for 1 second. The auditory stimulus in each trial is a total of 40 clicks composed of left and right clicks, the ratio of which is preselected randomly. For example, a click rate of 39:1 is used for an easy trial and 21:19 is used for a difficult trial. The accuracy was about 80% in an easy task and was gradually decreased to about 40-50% in a difficult task.

Free Research Field

神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ラットは脳が比較的大きく、昔から行動実験や精神疾患のモデル多用されてきた歴史がある。さらに近年遺伝子改変モデル動物の増加も著しい。本研究ではラットを用いて、知覚意思決定課題を行わせる訓練方法を確立できた。これにより、電気生理学的な解析、またカルシウムセンサー蛋白を用いた神経細胞活動の画像解析に発展させることで、知覚意思決定時の脳内システムについて解剖学的知見を含む新たな知見を得ることにつながると期待される。